Google is now taking efforts in optimising their social messaging app, Hangouts for better implementations to business use. The tech giant also announced that there is no longer the need to sign up for a Google+ profile in order to utilise the video conferencing app.
The Hangouts app by Google would be available to all Google Apps customer account even without a Google+ profile, thus allowing any Google Apps users to start a video meeting up to 15 participants. From now on, it is now just “Hangouts” instead of the previously titled “Google+ Hangouts”.
In addition, Hangouts will now be subjected to the same Terms of Service as other Google Apps for Business along with Gmail and Drive. This means that there will be 24-7 phone support and a 99.9% guarantee against service outages. Google said that companies will be able to store data like e-mails to Google Apps Vault with the promise of an unspecified “additional enterprise integration”. However, regular users that do not use Google Apps are still required to own a Google+ profile.
The company seems to be making its services easier to be used without requiring Google+ connections as it is a social network that is more consumer-oriented while Google Apps are driven more towards business users. The efforts are apparent to a move Google took last week that removed the need of a Google+ account from users who wanted to access Google Now on the desktop.
Google also announce that a new partnership are being made with Blue Jeans, a cloud-based video conferencing service to make Hangouts more appealing to businesses. Google Apps’ VP Product Management Clay Bavor claims that it would allow a seamless transition to Hangouts for users running on traditional H.323 or SIP-based VoIP video conferencing systems.
Google is undoubtedly trying to push its Chrome OS-based corporate meeting device to a wider audience. As for this instance, Chromebox for meetings via Hangouts that will have the ability to display two screens allowing video conferencing and presentation to take place simultaneously on both ends of users. Dialling support will also be implemented on Hangouts to allow users to dial out to phones from their Chromebox. In addition to setting up meetings with the integrated calendar, other functionalities include remotely starting, muting, and ending a meeting can all be manage from the Google Apps Admin Console.
Although Chromebox for meetings is not available yet in our country, the services would be expanded to the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. On the other hand, the new Hangouts will be available in September.
[Source: PCMag, Top Tech News]
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